Celebrating the gold standard in Canadian wealth management

Celebrating the gold standard in Canadian wealth management

The gold standard among wealth advisors, managers and fund providers was honoured last night at the second annual Canadian Wealth Professional Awards.

Scooping up the coveted Mandeville Private Client Award for Advisor of the Year was William Vastis, of The William Vastis Wealth Management Group of RBC Dominion Securities Inc., who said he was thrilled to be recognized in such an esteemed group of professionals. “I feel very privileged and honoured to be part of such an elaborate group of people and there really are no standouts – anybody who’s nominated for an award like this deserves an award, but obviously you have to select one,” he said. “I’m privileged to be that one, and I give kudos to the rest of the group.”

Doug Macdonald of Macdonald, Shymko & Company Ltd. was also honoured with The Invesco Canada Award for Lifetime Achievement.

“I think the honour means a lot because it recognizes what we started with – it was a concept that we had, nobody really thought it could happen,” he said with trophy in hand. “We’ve not only implemented it and made it a success, we have a business that continues today on the same principles. The business is now passed on to a younger set of advisors, and many people in this country have emulated our business.”

Meanwhile, Rosemary Horwood of Richardson GMP represented the industry’s emerging new talent with the Horizons ETFs Award for Young Gun of the Year.

“It’s really exciting – it’s definitely an industry where there are very few younger people, and it’s a little bit discouraging because there’s so many older people who have far more experience, and it’s really hard to show your value to clients when you don’t have that many years of experience under your belt,” she says, adding: “A word of advice for every young person who’s starting, that you can do it, and I’m definitely an example of that.”

Over 20 awards were handed out throughout the evening, honouring a diverse array of wealth professionals. The event was produced by KMI Publishing and Events and sponsored by Invesco.

See below for a complete list of winners:

The Investment Planning Counsel Award for Digital Innovation and Marketing: Shannon Lee Simmons, New School of Finance